5 Best Identity Guard Alternatives and Competitors (2023)

Lauren Sakiyama
Writer
Brandon King
Editor
Last Updated December 6, 2023

There was a time when I said Identity Guard was my top pick for identity protection. But my feelings have shifted a bit. Other services offer a lot more at similar or better rates

For example, my top pick for identity theft protection (Aura), offers more monitoring capabilities, online safety tools, and threat resolution at a rate that’s better than Identity Guard (especially when you use our discount code). 

So, if you’re thinking of switching from Identity Guard to another service or were considering Identity Guard but want to know what else is out there, you’ve come to the right place

Compare the Identity Guard Alternatives

Company

Pricing

Customer Support

Promo Code

Aura

Best Overall

  • $9/month 

Aura only offers one plan but offers the same benefits as Identity Guard's Ultra plan

  • Aura wins with their US-based 24/7 support



IdentityForce

Best For Families on Tight Budgets

  • $14.99/month UltraSecure

  • $19.9/month UltraSecure+Credit

  • IdentityForce matches Aura with their excellent US-based 24/7 support



LifeLock

Best Insurance Coverage

  • $7.5/month Standard Plan

  • $15/month Advantage Plan

  • $20/month Ultimate Plus Plan

  • LifeLock promises US based experts but when we tested this, our experience was terrible


IDShield

Best for Job Seekers

  • $14.95/month 1 Credit Bureau Monitoring

  • $19.95/month 3 Credit Bureau Monitoring

  • US-based 24/7 support



Experian IdentityWorks

Best Free Plan

  • Free/month Basic

  • $24.99/month Premium

  • US-based

Hours of Operation: Monday-Saturday from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m

Home Security Heroes independently tests and reviews every product. We may earn a commission when you buy through our links. Read more here.

I’ll explain what Identity Guard brings to the table first, then show you how other services stack up. By the end, you’ll know which service suits you best.

What Identity Guard Does (And Doesn’t) Offer:

  • Accurate monitoring (including dark web monitoring).
  • Fantastic customer service.
  • $1 million in theft insurance per adult on each plan.
  • Three-bureau credit monitoring (with Total and Ultra plans).
  • White glove identity restoration services (with Ultra plan).
  • A very low-priced basic plan for those who just want identity monitoring and insurance only.
  • Flexible family plans that allow you to include up to five adults and unlimited children.

But you should think of Identity Guard as the older model. It’s missing the latest features that Aura and some other services offer. 

Plus, like any out-of-date product, Identity Guard has a few major drawbacks, including:

  • Limited customer service hours
  • Few online security and privacy features
  • Minimal protection and features for children, even with its family plan

Read FullIdentity Guard Identity Theft Protection Review.

The Best Identity Guard Alternatives

  1. Aura – Best Overall
  2. IdentityForce – Best For Families on Tight Budgets
  3. LifeLock – Best Insurance Coverage
  4. IDShield – Best for Job Seekers
  5. Experian IdentityWorks – Best Free Plan

So, while Identity Guard is alright, you can do better. Check out these alternatives to see what I mean.

1. Aura – Best Overall

Aura Logo

Pros

  • Accurate and more comprehensive monitoring of all plans
  • 24/7/365 customer service 
  • Flexible family coverage with $1 million insurance per adult
  • Tons of online security extras
  • Fantastic tools for parents

Cons

  • The user interface could be smoother

How It Stacks Up 

Aura offers the best identity theft protection at the best price, without question. In testing, it turned up just as many dark web alerts (two in my case) as Identity Guard. That’s not surprising since they’re from the same company.

But, with Aura, you can feel more protected because it includes more monitoring services with every plan, such as: 

  • Home and auto title monitoring
  • 401(k) and investment account monitoring
  • Bank account monitoring
  • Criminal and court record monitoring 

Though Identity Guard offers all these services (except auto title monitoring), you must purchase their top-level plan to access them. And that gets expensive fast. 

With Aura, you can access the same expert identity restoration and customer service teams as Identity Guard – but you can reach them 24/7/365. Identity Guard’s hours are 8 am- 11 pm, Monday – Friday, and 9 am – 6 pm on Saturdays.  

Aura also offers the same insurance policy as Identity Guard, which increases by $1 million for each adult you add to the plan. And just like Identity Guard, Aura allows you to include up to five adults on each family plan – bringing your total potential insurance coverage to $5 million. 

Unlike Identity Guard, though, Aura offers a lot of extras for families.

With Aura, you get parental control tools, a family file-share and password vault, and safe gaming tools that scan for signs of harassment, racism, bullying, and grooming on popular online games. You can also freeze your child’s credit directly from your dashboard. 

Plus, Aura comes with lots of online security extras like a VPN, antivirus software, anti-ad tracker, and spam call protection.

aura tech

Though Aura can’t beat Identity Guard’s lowest-level plan in terms of price, given its extra inclusions, it offers far more value. And Aura’s individual and family plan offerings are less expensive than Identity Guard’s second and top-tier plans.  

If you use our discount code, Aura’s rate becomes even more affordable for life. That’s right – once you lock the rate in, it never changes, even as Aura continues to make improvements and additions. 

My only complaint with Aura is with its interface. It looks something like a social media feed, with an infinite scroll of alerts and system activity. It’s not my favorite layout.

But, that said, it’s not hard to use. A lackluster user interface is hardly a deal breaker, just something Aura could do better in the future.

Aura Pricing, Free Trial & Promo Codes

Aura

Promo Code

Individual Plan Cost

  • $9/month 

Aura only offers one plan but offers the same benefits as Identity Guard's Ultra plan

Couple Plan Cost

  • $17/month 

  • Covers 2 Adults

Family Plan Cost

  • $25/month 

  • Covers 5 adults & unlimited kids

Aura only offers one plan but offers the same benefits as Identity Guard's Ultra plan

Renewal Price Increased After 1st Year?

  • No. You lock in the price for life

Promo Code


Related: Identity Guard vs. Aura.

2. IdentityForce – Best For Families on Tight Budgets

Identity Force logo

Pros

  • Identity restoration for the immediate family included individual plans
  • ChildWatch program available as a low-cost add-on 
  • Accurate monitoring

Cons

  • Credit monitoring tools only available with the higher-priced plan
  • Fewer online security extras than other services

How It Stacks Up 

IdentityForce is another excellent alternative to Identity Guard, especially if you want more family features but find your budget limiting. Understand, though, this isn’t because IdentityForce is exceptionally cheap – it isn’t. If anything, it’s on the more expensive end of things. 

However, IdentityForce offers a few inclusions and low-cost add-ons that might save you the need to purchase a full-blown family plan.

Let me explain. 

IdentityForce’s plans include family identity restoration for individual plan members. So, even if you don’t purchase a family plan, they’ll help restore the identity of immediate family members should they become a victim of theft. 

You won’t be able to monitor your spouse, child, or other family member’s identity, without a family plan – nor will they get insurance coverage. Still, they will have access to restoration specialists, which is a huge PLUS

Alternatively, IdentityForce allows you to purchase their ChildWatch package as a very affordable add-on (under $3 per month). This package includes identity monitoring, insurance coverage, and identity restoration for children. Plus, it offers top-notch social media monitoring that watches for signs of bullying, harassment, racism, and violence

IdentityForce’s monitoring services are just as accurate as Aura and Identity Guard’s, which is saying something. Few services are able to find as many as these do. 

It also comes with niche monitoring services like an investment account and payday loan monitoring (though it doesn’t include home or auto title monitoring). 

My only complaint is that IdentityForce charges significantly more to include credit monitoring tools.

identityforce dashboard

Though these tools are comprehensive, going as far as including a credit tracker and simulator, it seems odd to charge so much more. Several free services, like Credit Karma, will help you monitor your credit, so I don’t know how IdentityForce justifies the price jump.

And, IdentityForce doesn’t have the long list of extras that Aura does – though it has a few, like a VPN, password manager, and anti-phishing tools.

Identity Force Pricing, Free Trial & Promo Codes

Promo Code

Individual Plan Cost

  • $23.99/mo or $239.90/yr - UltraSecure & Credit plan the only one now available)

  • These are current prices

Couple Plan Cost

  • No Couples plan per se (See Family plan below)

Family Plan Cost

  • Covers 2 adults & unlimited amount of kids

  • All family plans include Childwatch ID Protection

Renewal Price Increased After 1st Year?

  • Yes

Promo Code


Related: Identity Guard vs. IdentityForce.

3. LifeLock – Best Insurance Coverage

Norton LifeLock logo

Pros

  • Massive amount of insurance coverage with top-level plan
  • Tons of extra online security features

Cons

  • Poor customer service
  • Less accurate monitoring
  • Price increases after the first year

How It Stacks Up 

LifeLock is the best-known identity protection service by far, and though it’s not my favorite choice, it may be worth considering in certain situations

Its most significant benefit over Identity Guard is the amount of insurance coverage it offers. With LifeLock, you can get up to $3 million per adult and over $1 million per child in stolen funds, expenses, and legal fee coverage. 

But there’s a HUGE catch to this. 

The coverage is only available with LifeLock’s top-tier plan, which is much more expensive than Identity Guard. 

Lower plan tiers tout a $1 million insurance policy, but they only include $1 million in legal fees. Their stolen funds and expense reimbursement options are far less (as low as $25,000). 

Unfortunately, LifeLock’s monitoring isn’t as accurate as Identity Guard’s. In testing, it only found one dark web alert on me. 

And their customer service team, though available 24/7, is shockingly hard to get a hold of. It takes clicking through three Contact Us pages before LifeLock will even give you a number to call. 

LifeLock does offer a lot of online privacy and security extras, including a full suite of parental control tools and Norton antivirus software. These are great extras, but you’ll also pay a high price for them. 

Because, though LifeLock’s pricing reviews looks attractive upfront – beware. LifeLock ups their prices after the first year.

LifeLock Pricing, Free Trial & Promo Codes

Promo Code

Individual Plan Cost

Annually

  • $7.5/m Standard Plan

  • $15/m Advantage Plan

  • $20/m Ultimate Plus Plan

Monthly

  • $9.99/m Standard Plan

  • $17.99/m Advantage Plan

  • $23.99/m Ultimate Plus Plan

Couple Plan Cost

Annually

  • $12.49/m Standard Plan

  • $24/m Advantage Plan

  • $33/m Ultimate Plus Plan

Monthly

  • $14.49/m Standard Plan

  • $28.99/m Advantage Plan

  • $39.99/m Ultimate Plus Plan

Family Plan Cost

Annually

  • $18.5/m Standard Plan

  • $30/m Advantage Plan

  • $39/m Ultimate Plus Plan

Monthly

  • $21.99/m Standard Plan

  • $35.99/m Advantage Plan

  • $46.99/m Ultimate Plus Plan

Renewal Price Increased After 1st Year?

  • Price increases after first year

Promo Code


Read: Full Comparison of Identity Guard vs LifeLock.

4. IDShield – Best for Job Seekers

Pros

  • Unique reputation management tools 
  • Licensed private investigators handle identity restoration

Cons

  • Not as accurate at monitoring
  • Confusing sign-up process

How It Stacks Up

For some people, IDShield might be the best alternative to Identity Guard. It comes with a few unique features that could be very useful in certain situations. 

For example, if you’re looking for a job, IDShield is a great choice. It comes with reputation management tools that scan your social media for potentially offensive content. This allows you to review (and remove) old posts and pictures that you might not want future employers to see. 

It also includes a full suite of articles to make your LinkedIn profile more attractive to employers. 

When I tested this tool, it didn’t do much for me. It took me several tries before it would link to my account, and it didn’t find much for me to review. But I’m not an avid social media user, so it may be more useful if you are. 

idshield private investigators

IDshield also gives identity theft victims access to licensed private investigators. They promise that these professionals will restore your identity to pre-theft status or your money back. In some cases, these PIs might be able to help track down the thief who stole your identity to begin with. 

Bringing the bad guy to justice is a big perk, but unfortunately, I found IDShield’s monitoring services to be both slow and inaccurate. It didn’t find the threats IdentityGuard did, and the initial scan took over a day to complete.

Plus, IDShield’s sign-up process is confusing. You have to sign in to their parent company, LegalShield, first. Then, you can open your IDShield dashboard. This two-step process is annoying and makes the service more difficult to access than it should be.

IDShield Pricing, Free Trial & Promo Codes

Promo Code

Individual Plan Cost

  • $14.95/m  1 Credit Bureau Monitoring

  • $19.95/m  3 Credit Bureau Monitoring

Couple Plan Cost

  • No Couples plan

Family Plan Cost

  • $29.95/m  1 Credit Bureau Monitoring

  • $34.95/m  3 Credit Bureau Monitoring

Renewal Price Increased After 1st Year?

  • No

Promo Code


Related: Identity Guard vs IDShield Comparison.

5. Experian IdentityWorks – Best Free Plan

Experian

Pros

  • Great for credit protection
  • Free plan available

Cons

  • Identity monitoring is lacking
  • Paid plans are pricey, given their inclusions

How It Stacks Up 

It’s no wonder that Experian IdentityWorks has a full range of credit protection tools, including daily FICO scores, a credit tracker, and Experian credit alerts. What’s exciting about their credit monitoring services is that they’re free.

IdentityWork’s lowest-level service is completely free of charge. So, if you don’t have the money to spend on full identity protection, this is a great choice. 

Their paid options, though, might not be worth the price. If you want comprehensive identity protection and have even a small budget available, there are better services. 

Here’s why – 

IdentityWorks monitoring is relatively comprehensive but not entirely accurate. It took a long time to populate alerts (more than one week), and it didn’t find as many threats as Identity Guard.

IdentityWorks also doesn’t include any extra online security features like VPNs or antivirus software. Nor does it offer any parental controls. 

However, its price point is still on the upper end at $24.99 for an individual plan. That’s steep, given the lack of inclusions and extra features.

Experian Pricing, Free Trial & Promo Codes

experian

Individual Plan Cost

  • Free/m Basic

  • $24.99/m Premium

Couple Plan Cost

  • No Couples plan

Family Plan Cost

  • $34.99 /m Family

Renewal Price Increased After 1st Year?

  • No

What We Look For In Identity Protection Services 

Finding the best identity protection service for you comes down to what you need MOST. Are you interested in straightforward identity protection, or do you want the extra online privacy tools? Do you have a family with young children to protect, or do you simply want to cover you and your spouse? 

At Home Security Heroes, we evaluate protection services by focusing on critical areas that matter to most people, including: 

  • Monitoring services. The most comprehensive monitoring includes everything from the dark web to home and auto title monitoring. But comprehensiveness is only half the equation.

    The service needs to be accurate as well. Finally, alerts must populate quickly, within hours or days – not weeks, so you can proactively protect yourself from identity thieves.
  • Threat resolution. The best identity protection services give you 24/7 access to expert identity restoration specialists who can walk you through what to do if there’s a threat to your identity and how to restore your identity should you become a theft victim.
  • Insurance. Identity protection plans typically come with $1 million in theft insurance. The best offer is more, with increasing coverage per adult.
  • Added features. Ideally, your identity protection service will do more than simply monitor your identity. The best ones come with full online privacy and security tools like VPNs and password managers. Some even come with parental control tools, which are a huge plus for parents with young children.
  • Cost. Though I would never encourage you to choose an identity protection service on cost alone, your budget will play a role in which service you pick.

    When evaluating services, I look at the overall value given the price. If a service offers a lot, charging more might be okay – but my top picks typically offer a bundle of services for a reasonable price.

Choose The Identity Guard Alternative That’s Right For You

Looking at all of the service areas above, there’s one service that stands out above all others – Aura. 

With Aura, you get award-winning, accurate, and comprehensive lightning-fast monitoring. You also get 24/7/365 access to an expert customer care team that offers white-glove service for identity theft victims. 

Aura’s insurance policy increases by $1 million with every adult you add to the plan, and you can add up to five adults. Plus, their plan comes with a full range of online security features. It also includes award-winning parental control features that include safe gaming tools. 

Best of all, Aura is available at a remarkably low cost, which gets even lower when you use our discount code. 

So, if you’re thinking of switching from Identity Guard to another service, Aura is my top pick. While all of the services on this list might be worth a second look, Aura is the best option for the vast majority of people.